Downtown Baton Rouge's premier holiday event, the Festival of Lights, returns Friday, Dec. 5. The annual free event is open to the public and offers a verity of fun-for-the-family activities simultaneously as Forum 35's Reindeer Run and Jingle Bell Jog fills downtown with holiday cheer.

Returning to the line-up of festival events this year is the Winter Wonderland, which transforms City Hall Plaza and Repentance Park into a snowy ice rink. Participants can strap on pairs of ice skates or shop in "Santa's Gift Shop," which features work from select art vendors.

Also on the docket is face painting, balloon sculptors, stilt walkers, magicians, a craft booth and strolling carolers.

As for the Reindeer Run, Forum 35 offers a 5K race through downtown. The base of this year's run has shifted, so look for the registration booth and the start/finish line on the Mississippi River side of the Shaw Center for the Arts. Registration for both the 5K and the 1-mile fun-run are still available online at www.ReindeerRunBR.com.